A visit to Toronto's only Burmese restaurant

****Dec 2012 Update***This restaurant is now closed. Karelia Kitchen, a Scandinavian restaurant, is now at this address. 

Did you know that Toronto has a Burmese neighbourhood? On Bloor Street between Landsdowne and Dufferin, there is a small but growing population of people from Burma (Myanmar). 

The strip consists of a few variety stores selling imported Burmese food, but as there are sanctions preventing imports from the isolated country, the merchandise comes from neighbouring countries such as Thailand. In one of the stores, a sketchy looking outlet cluttered with piles of dusty merchandise, the clerk will tell you tales of his time fighting the Burmese army in the jungles that straddle the Burmese/Thai border.

His story is a common one on this strip. Many of the local Burmese are refugees from the Karen ethnic group. After suffering under the Burmese military regime and spending years in Thai refugee camps, they came to Canada to start their lives again. 

Thida Khine (above), a former computer teacher in Rangoon, came to Canada in 1993 as part of an earlier wave of Burmese migration. For years, she ran her restaurant, Motherhome Myanmar Cuisine, at Front Street and Blue Jays Way, but moved the business to 1194 Bloor Street West a year ago to take advantage of cheaper rents and to be closer to the Burmese community. "Lots of people from our country live around here," she says. 

Burmese food is a tasty blend of flavours that you also find in other Asian cuisines. "Our cooking is similar to India, China and Thailand, but the spices are different," says Thida. "In our country we use fresh herbs like lemon grass, curry leaves, basil, and lots of different kinds of coriander."

I'd recommend trying the daily special. For just $5 for take out ($5.99 for eat-in), you can get an excellent curry from the steam tray, served with veggies and rice or noodles. They also serve street snacks like Baja-gjo ("gold coin," something similar to a pakora), golden triangles (samosas) and mutton rolls. 

If you're more adventurous, you can order dishes off the menu that are more distinctly Burmese. I tried the tea leaf salad (below left), a classic Burmese dish that is a staple of social gatherings, as the caffeine gives you a bit of a buzz. I've got to say that this dish, made of fermented tea leaves, is incredibly bitter and might not be the best choice for your first visit. The moke hin nga (below right) is a safer bet: it's a dense soup made of minced fish, noodles, lemon grass, coriander.

One of the charms of Motherhome is that it serves as a de facto student cafeteria for Burmese university students studying in Toronto. Students such as this York University business student (below) pay in advance for a meal plan of 15 to 60 meals. This provides a much welcome taste of home for students on their own in a far away land. 

Motherhome Myanmar Cuisine, 1194 Bloor Street West. Tel: 416 792-2593. Open Monday to Friday 10:30 am to 10pm; Saturday and Sunday 1pm to 10pm.

****Dec 2012 Update***This restaurant is now closed. Karelia Kitchen, a Scandinavian restaurant, is now at this address. 

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